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Forums - Discs & Movies - The Most Underrated Film List

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October Sky - I absolutely adore this movie. I'm still stumped as to how this didn't receive any attention at the awards season. Brilliant uplifting film. Please do yourself a favour and see this movie.

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story: One of my favorite movies of 2006. It got great reviews from critics, but it made barely any money and most people haven't even heard of it. Steve Coogan is the best comedian alive and this film proves it.

After Hours (1985) Scorsese's forgotten masterpiece. As he himself puts it, it is an independent picture, backed by the studio. Just funny. A nightmare as you feel for the protagonist and just can't imagine what else could go wrong for him. Paul Hacket (Griffin Dunne) is a word processor. One evening after work, he goes to a coffee shop with his favourite book. There he meets Marcy (Rosanna Arquette), she lives in SoHo. He goes home, calls her right away and she invites him over. The nightmare-ish odyssey begins... Eccentric roomates to crazed mob chasing him in an ice cream truck, this is the worst night of Paul's life.

Adrian wrote: Gabe Powers wrote: I finally got around to seeing Domino, and I thought it was pretty dreadful. It started off very well, but fell apart big time in the end.

Domino was pretty bad. I don't know many people that really liked it, but it does seem to be the younger people on this board that enjoyed it. I'm glad I didn't see it in theaters. The trailer, though, was pretty enjoyable when it came out.I thought Domino was great, I was dosing off a little though in the middle though, so I probably missed the bad parts.

Gabe Powers wrote: I finally got around to seeing Domino, and I thought it was pretty dreadful. It started off very well, but fell apart big time in the end.

Domino was pretty bad. I don't know many people that really liked it, but it does seem to be the younger people on this board that enjoyed it. I'm glad I didn't see it in theaters. The trailer, though, was pretty enjoyable when it came out.

I finally got around to seeing Domino, and I thought it was pretty dreadful. It started off very well, but fell apart big time in the end. Does every Tony Scott have to end with the Altman equivalent to a shoot-out (other than Top Gun and Man on Fire I guess)?

DivineWaters wrote: I got round to watching "Ravenous" finally. That's one I'll need to hunt and buy. Kind of reminded me of those old Troma movies.

WHAT?!? Troma?!? Troma makes artless s**t and is proud of it, Ravenous was a well crafted, well acted, well written peice of art. Just because the cannibalistic theme is presented in a humorous ways doesn't mean it compares with Troma flicks.

Sorry man, you can't help what it reminds you of I suppose, but that blew my mind. Last time I checked a Best Buy out they had Ravenous available for $5.99.

Adrian wrote: I'm not sure what DivineWaters is referring to in "Despite the Oscar win". Beyond the Sea was not even nominated for an Oscar that I can tell. Spacey was nominated for a Golden Globe, though. Eh, know that was a while ago, but not really sure what I was thinking of then. I got round to watching "Ravenous" finally. That's one I'll need to hunt and buy. Kind of reminded me of those old Troma movies.

Malcolm X is underrated cause more people need to see that masterpiece Roadracers is really fun T.V movie directed by Rodriguez which nobody has seen except for the few to get the french did with forced subs!!!!!

and I really like the wackyness of Monkeybone

and now I gonna get sh!t but I reallly really really like Wild Wild West

McVain wrote: Both The Insider and Punch-Drunk Love are underrated but in my opinion the most underrated film of all is Eyes Wide Shut. I really think that in 30 years people will say that it was a masterpiece.

Absolutely true. I just sold my theatrical version of "Eyes Wide Shut" on Ebay in anticipation of the new Unrated version finally making its way to DVD this year in region 1.

I have to go with Tears of the sun. Everyone that I know are split between liking it and hating it. Bruce Willis actually played the role perfectly and Cole Hauser was just amazing as Red. The action was also great especially the huge firefight at the end. I know there are a couple of flaws in the film but I think the good outweighs the bad in this case.

There's a nice 1981 picture that was slipped out on dvd in August with very little notice. It's Arthur Penn's Four Friends and was one of Siskel and Ebert's two thumbs up picks back in '81. Then there are a pair of somewhat noirish pictures, Anthony LaPaglia and Mimi Rogers in Bulletproof Heart, which hasn't been released on dvd yet, and Nicholas Cage and Dennis Hopper in Red Rock West. These are both good films.

Insulting to Disabled people. It is NOT ok to kill some kid to put him out of "His Misery" notice " "

I didn't see it as insulting to disabled people. . .I saw it as the story of a character who sympathized for a particular diabled person and impulsively committed an act. As he soon tells his mother, he knows it was wrong.

I just watched that film. Why, when there are dozens of other films I could have watched, did I sit through that mess of a movie? I had read somewhere that it had its moments but I kept looking for them as I groaned my way through the inept script, acting and direction...yikes! I hope you were kidding. Brendan Fraser is a true money hound.

MrStayPuft wrote: I really loved Hellboy. Ron Pearlman was born to play Hellboy, and the action was great. I am really hoping del Toro does the sequal first before the rumored Halo movie. I hate to say it, but Hellboy is in my top 20, and is one of my favorite dvds I have.

I really loved Hellboy. Ron Pearlman was born to play Hellboy, and the action was great. I am really hoping del Toro does the sequal first before the rumored Halo movie. I hate to say it, but Hellboy is in my top 20, and is one of my favorite dvds I have.

Adrian wrote: Since Robert Altman will receive an honory Oscar, I'll mention Short Cuts here. Not many people seem to have ever seen this movie.

I saw this film theatrically, and to this day, there is a certain scene I cannot talk about without choking up. It is one of the most heartbreaking, unforgettable scenes I've seen. Strangely enough, I saw this with my sister who absolutely hated it and still brings it up to this day as the sort of film she doesn't like.

Several films that I feel are not well known or appreciated:

Das Experiment - Starring Moritz Bleibtreu of "Run Lola Run" and "In July", this German film just kicks ass!

Late Marriage - Wonderful Israeli film starring Lior Ashkenaza of "Walk on Water".

Also, this does have a high rating on IMDb, but other websites I visited said that the Chumscrubber was pretty bad (like Hollywoodvideo.com, for example), but I think that so far Chumscrubber is my favorite film of 2006 on DVD right now.

Of course Gabe, thats an excellent idea. I believe many of your readers are unaware of some truly great films. Hell if someone didn't know who Cary Grant was, I think it would be educational at the very least. Plus it might give some of us an excuse to spend more money on DVDs we have over-looked.

If you want to talk about underrated movies, I recommend looking anywhere outside the US. One of my top 10 films of all time is a movie from India called The Terrorist, directed by Santosh Sivan. As for recent films, there is an amazing film (made for TV) called Dirty War. Also, released at the same time as Hotel Rwanda is a film by Raoul Peck, produced by HBO, called Sometimes in April that covers the same subject.

an underated film that I love is death to smoochy. it was a great movie about greed and revenge. and it was histerical. another movie is probably rated nicely now but upon its release it was , donnie darko

While I am drinking my coffee this morning I thought I would add couple of Richard Gere films to this list. I recently purchased the special edition of "The Mothman Prophecies." Not only is it a terrificly creepy thriller, but the supplement disc has an even more chilling documentary on the "true" events depicted in the film. Another underrated masterpiece that I am eagerly waiting to see Paramount revisit is "Days of Heaven." Wonderfully written and directed by Terrence Malick, this film is a moving canvass. If you are a fan of cinematographer, Néstor Almendros, you will not be dissapointed by the beautiful images he captured. The actors were top-notch as well with Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard and Linda Manz adding subtle performances to this film.

It was actually always Kubricks intent to pruduce the film with Speiberg directing, and the final 20 minutes were always part of the script. It took me a few viewings to find the final 20 minutes satisfying, but I like them now.

Well, I read that in May, Warner Brothers is releasing "Full Metal Jacket" on HD-DVD which to me makes me feel no hope of getting nice 2 disc sets (a la "Dr. Strangelove) of the Kubrick collection on the "Standard DVD". It's a shame because the current releases are pretty sad (extra wise, and I'm pretty sure the picture is not up to par with current standards) and as mentioned above for the "Unedited" version of "EWS", we may never see an official release.

I agree, Kubrick was a genius, insane, but a genius.

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) America, in the year 1991. Apes are domesticated pets and are used and treated as slaves. One ape, the son of Cornelius and Zira from the original "Planet of the Apes" knows that man has gone too far and rallies his fellow apes together to overthrow Mankind once and for all. While the "Apes" series was wearing thin towards the end, this fourth entry is one of the better films. We see how apes started to revolt which leads to the future from the first film. A great Science Fiction film, and highly underrated.

Glad to see someone's mentioned Beyond the Sea. Despite the Oscar win, I still don't think it's getting as much attention as it should. I can only think of one person I know who has actually even heard of it.

I want to add a film that nearly everyone I know simply hated, "Eyes Wide Shut." I have watched this film a number of times and it gets better after every viewing. Stanley Kubrick really was a genius. Another great film is "Obsession," one of Brian De Palma's many rip-offs or tributes (whatever your point-of-view) of Alfred Hitchcock. Its an incredibly enjoyable thriller that stars Cliff Robertson, Genevieve Bujold and John Lithgow. The cinematography is by the legendary Vilmos Zsigmond, screenplay by Paul Schrader and music by Mr. Hitchcock's music collaborator, Bernard Herrmann. If you liked films like "Rear Window," "Vertigo" or "The Man Who Knew Too Much," this one will keep you on the edge of your seat.

AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001) A lot of people thought this was a kid's movie and that's where it hurt it. Plus, most Kubrick fanatics thought it blasphemous that Spielberg direct it. This is not a happy tale, in fact, it may be the saddest movie I've seen (aside from "The Notebook" ). David is a robot who is adopted by a couple whose son is in a coma. When the son comes out of it, he dislikes David and events occur that force them to "return" David...

I agree with both Below and Ravenous (I have them both), but for my money the most underrated film is The Insider. Amazing performances by both Pacino and especially Crowe who should've won the Oscar for this role. Great film from Michael Mann.

The announcement that Steven Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun" will be treated to a two-disc special edition made me think about other films that have been overlooked because they received little marketing support or were just overwhelmed by other films released during the same period of time. This type of post may have been done before but I think its a great way to discover some new films to add to your collection or rent on a Friday night. Pick a film and give it a description and brief review. Here's my picks:

Below (2002) This one may have slipped underneath the radar, but don't let its obscurity keep you from picking it up. "Below" is a well-crafted horror film brought to the screen by director David Twohy ("Pitch Black") and writer Darren Aronofsky ("Requiem for a Dream.") The story is highly suspenseful and at times quite frightening. This DVD offers a striking transfer that handles all the dark scenes competently and the Dolby 5.1 track will fill the room with ambient sounds that will truly make you shudder. Keep the room darkened and watch it late on a Friday night...alone.